A 3500-acre wildfire that stretches from West Milford across the New York State border into Orange County was just 20% contained as of the early morning on Nov.12. Experts said we don’t usually see this in our area.
“A multi-thousand-acre fire is somewhat rare in the northern part of the state, it’s a little more common but not an everyday occurrence by any means down in the Pinelands,” said New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson.
The fire comes on the heels of a bone-dry October, he said.
“It was New Jersey’s driest month of any month in 130 years and the 40-plus days without any measurable rain at multiple stations around the state was the longest run without measurable rain on record,” he said.
“New Jersey averages about an inch of rain a week and this (the rain on Sunday Nov. 10) was the first rain in 6 to 7 weeks across the state and it was only probably a statewide average of about a quarter of an inch," said Robinson.